Since we are trading in Old Lucy (2005 25FB) on New Lucy (2012 23FB) we decided that it is once again time to give our weather-worn Hensley Arrow another Facelift. We didn't like the idea of putting such a terrible looking hitch on a shinny new Airstream.

Our Hensley received its last facelift in March of 2011. Our Hensley was new in 2005, and really looked bad by 2011. It was not quite as faded this time, but getting a new Airstream warrants another facelift. We also got a Hensley rebuild kit and will replace the all of the pins and spring clips. We will also replace both of the retainer clips for the spring bars and the Zerk fittings. We will also put new shear bolts on the frame brackets. We will do most of this when we actually move the Hensley from one Aistream to the other.

SuEllyn started stripping the orange paint from the upper assembly several days ago. It was a very tedious job to get all of the paint off. She then masked off and primed the upper unit with two coats of primer. After letting the primer dry for a couple of days. She started applying light coats of the gloss orange enamel. She now has two coats on it. She is planning several more coats of orange, and at least two coats of Nyalic Clear Surface Protectant.

Brian - that looks great! Did you go with Hensley orange to keep it original or do you just love the color? I'd be tempted to go black, silver, or a patriotic RWB :-)

We thought about changing colors. We've seen a couple of Hensleys painted black and one painted silver. They just don't look right to us. It would be like painting a John Deere tractor brown. It would detract from the authenticity. It would kind of be like putting big blue numbers on your airstream.